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(No Model.)

A. J.BLEW.

FIRE ESCAPE.

Patented Jan. 11

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Wdncsses olo-Lilhu mpher. Washington, l1 C4 U rrEn STATES arrest PATENTFIRE-ESCAPE.

EPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,917. dated January11, 1887.

Application filed J 11110 7, 1886. Serial 204,342. (No model.) Patentedin England May 8, 1885, No. 5,705.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED JEssE BLEW, gentleman, a subject of the Queenof Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at Fawley Lodge, Hythe, nearSouthampton, Hants, England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fire-Escapes, applicable also for ventilating buildings,(for which'I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 5,705, datedMay 8, 1885,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide convenient apparatus or meansfor enabling persons to escape from dwelling-houses and other buildingswhen unable to do so by the ordinary means, in consequence of fire orfor other reasons,which apparatus may also serve for ventilatingpurposes; and it consists in arranging on the exterior of a building, inclose proximity to the-windows or other like places of exit, a frame,trunk, or structure, which may extend upward from the ground to theuppermost window or other like exit, or to the roof of the building.This frame, trunk, or structure, which may consist of ornamentaliron-work, preferably coated with fire-resisting material, or which maybe constructed of fire brick or other fire resisting material, cased orfaced with wrought-iron, is provided with openings at convenientdistances apart, so as to form steps by whichpersons may ascend anddescend. In the interior of this frame, trunk, or structure is aperforated wrought-iron plate, or a number of plates connected togetherby chains, wire ropes, or otherwise, and so arranged as to cover theopenings orsome of the openings in the frame, trunk, or structure whenit is not required to be used as a ladder, but capable of being movedinto position to uncover the openings in the said frame or trunk when itis required to use the same as a ladder or means of escape from thebuilding. The inner movable plate or plates is or are connected by achain or wire rope, or its equivalent, to a crab or Windlass, or toothersuitable mechanism, situated in any convenient part of the building, forthe purpose of raising the said plate or plates into position forclosing the openings in the trunk, in which position it is maintained bymeans of a ratchetwheel and detent in connection with the windlass, orwith a pulley or drum, over or around which the lifting chain or rope ispassed. To the outer end of the engaging detent is connected a rope,which passes through the floors of the building to the lowest apartmentthereof, if desired, so that when it is desired to uncover the openingsin the frame or trunk the said detent may be disengaged from theratchetwheel by hauling on the rope in any of the apartments throughwhich it passes, and thus release the wrought-iron plate or plates,whichwill then descend by its or their gravity and uncover the openings inthe outer frame to admit of persons ascending and descending.

In order to keep the structure cool in case of fire, I arrange on eachside thereof, or in NEAR SOUTHAMPTON,

close proximity thereto, a tube or pipe, to the lower end of one or bothof which a hose-pipe or hose-pipes may be attached and water forcedthrough the said pipe or pipes and through suitable passages leadingtherefrom into the several apartments in the building, or on the roof ofthe building, from whence it may flow over the structure, andthus-maintain it in a cool condition. One of the said pipes may beutilized for conducting or conveying away rain-water from the roof.

The trunk or structure may be made to communicate with the severalapartments of the building by suitable passages, through which vitiatedair from the apartments may escape into the trunk, and by which freshair may be.

according to my invention, and the remaining drawn to figures aredetails of the apparatus an enlarged scale.

In carrying out my invention, I build in the wall of a dwelling-house orother building, or attach thereto by any suitable means, the trunk A,which may, as shown, be made. in

parts or lengths,*and the several lengths connected together bysocket-joints, as shownin Fig. 3, or by riveting or otherwise, the saidtrunk being constructed of any length required, according to the heightof the build ing to which it is to be applied. Fig. 4 is-a frontelevation of one of the lengths detached, and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 arerespectively a side elevation, a vertical section, and a horizontalsection of the same. Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11 are views of'the top or capB of the trunk. The several lengths of the trunk may be fixed to thewall of the building in any suitable way. I have, however, shown themprovided with lugs or ears I), by which they may be fixed by strongstuds or nails driven through holes in the said lugs or ears into thebrick-work.

On each side of the interior of the trunk A is a groove, 0, in whichgrooves is fitted to slide a perforated wrought-iron plate, D, (aportion of which is shown in perspective in Fig. 12,) the openings orperforations d in the said plate corresponding in size to the openings ain the trunk A, so that when the openings d are opposite the openings atsteps are provided, by which persons may ascend and. descend the trunk.The plate D is connected by a wire rope, E, or its equivalent, to a crabor Windlass, F, which may be situated,as shown in Fig.2, in the topfloor of the building; or it may be placed in the lowest apartmentthereof,

' as shown in Fig. 13, or in the basement or any other suitable part ofthe building. The rope E passes over or around a pulley, G, fitted torotate in the upper part of the trunk A and provided with ratchetteethf, with which a detent, H, engages for the purpose of maintaining theplate D in its elevated position, with the solid parts between theopenings d thereof opposite the openings a in the trunk, thus preventingpersons ascending the trunk until the plate D is moved so as tocause'the openings thereof to come opposite the openings in the trunk.To the outer end of the detent H (which,together with the ratchet-wheelf, may, if desired, be arranged on the crab or Windlass F) is attachedone end of a rope, I, which passes down through the several floors ofthe buildings, so as to be accessible in any of the said floors, to bepulled for the purpose of disengaging the detent from the ratchetwheelf, and thereby allow the plate D to descend by its own gravity, so as tobring the openings therein opposite the openings in the trunk A and forma ladder, by means of which persons, in the event of the buildingcatching fire, may safely descend from any of the floors if) a of thebuilding.

In order to facilitate access to the ladder from the windows or otherexits or openings in the building, the window-sills may be mades'ufficiently long to extend to the side of the trunk A; or a specialplatform may be built in or securedto the building j ust beneath thewindows or other exits to assist persons in obtaining access to theladder.

On the exterior of each side of the trunk A is a tube or pipe, g 9,through which water may be passed for the purpose of maintaining thetrunk cool, for which purpose I provide at the lower part of the pipe 9a screwed nozzle, h, to which a hose-pipe may be attached and waterforced up through the said pipe onto the roof of the building, fromwhence it will 'flow'over the trunk A, and thereby prevent the saidtrunk from becoming unduly heated. The pipe 9 may also be provided withother screwed nozzles, i, at suitable distances apart, for the receptionof hose-pipes for directing streams of water through the windows orother openings to the interior of the building. The pipe 9 may, ifdesired, be also provided with means for the attachment of hose-pipessimilar to the pipe 9, or it may be simply employed for conveyingrain-water from the roof of the building.

K are openings in the back of the trunk A, communicating with theinterior of the building, through which openings vitiated air may passfrom the interior of the building into the trunk, other openings beingprovided, it required, for admitting fresh air into the building, andthus maintain the building perfectly Ventilated.

Fig. 13 is a modification illustrating an arrangement whereby, in theevent of the building catching fire, the plate D is caused to de scendautomatically by the burning of the rope E, by which it is held in.itselevated position. This rope is connected at one end to the plate D, andpasses thence over the pulleys G, and down through the several floors ofthe building to the lowest apartment, or to the basement,where itsopposite end is connected to a' crab or Windlass, F, round which it iswound, so as to maintain the plate in its elevated position; or the endof the rope may be connected to a weight (or its equivalent)sufficiently heavy to maintain the plate D elevated.

In the event of fire burning the rope E, or

should the said rope be otherwise broken or divided, the plate, beingrelieved of its counterbalancing-weight,willimmediatelydescend, bringingthe openings therein opposite the openings in the trunk A, therebyproviding ready means to enable persons to escape from the buildingshould they be unable to do so by the ordinary exits. Should the roperemain unbroken the plate D may be caused to descend by raising the ropein any of the apartments through which it passes, so as to remove theweight thereof from the plate.

Instead of the sliding plate D, the openings a in the trunk A may beeach fitted with a separate hinged plate, D, as shown in Fig. 14,

(or otherwise,) the several hinged plates being connected together by arope or its equivalent,

so as to be all operated simultaneously, by either hauling on or byreleasing the rope, for the purpose of uncovering the openings a in thetrunk in a similar manner hereinbefore described 'for operating thesliding plate D. When the trunk or frame A is made of metal,

I prefer to coat it with some suitable fire-resisting material-such, forexample, as what is known as asbestine, which is a substance well knownand extensively used in America for fireproofing buildings. I wish it tobe understood, however, that I do not confine myself to the use of metalin the construction of the trunk, as I may prefer to make it of bricks,artificial stone, concrete, fire-proof cement, or other suitablefire-resisting material, and which may, if desired, be incased or facedwith metal, and the parts may also be tied together by metal bars orrods, which may constitute the steps of the ladder.

I am aware that it has been proposed to provide a fire-escape ladderagainst the wall of a building with an inclosing-case having a parallelmovement outward and from the ladder; but such a construction I do notdesire to claim.

I claim as my invention- 1. A building provided with a fire-escape trunkhaving openings therein to form steps, and having a movable plate orplates to open and close said openings, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

. said openings, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two sub- 40 scribing witnesses. V

, ALFRED JESSE BLEW.

Witnesses:

HENRY OWEN,

Merchant, Wolverhampton. FREDK. E. HISOOOKS,

U. S. Consulate.

